Asian Koel

Above a Female Immature Asian Koel.

Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) -Male. Our garden has three trays, refilled with fresh water every day, where small birds come to quench thirst and for a quick shower. Today, we had two over sized birds- two Asian Koels. The first one an Immature female and another a male. At first the birds were extremely circumspect of the new watering hole it found, but slowly they made itself comfortable and spent a good ten minutes enjoying at the water bath.  

Koel - Male

A Juvenile male Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus malayanus) moulting into adult plumage, when fully grown he will have lost the brown shaded wings. I spotted him two days after I spotted the female koel. He was very secretive, hiding in dark areas below my ships pipelines and photographing him proved challenging. I had to use a longer shutter speed to bring out the details of his plumage, hence overexposing the background.
The most striking aspect of the cuckoo's are their Crimson eyes and it stands out well in their dark plumage.
Photographed 20kms off the Gujarat coast (near Vadinar)

Koel - Female

This Female Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) turned up on my ship when we were somewhere 200kms of the Indian West coast. The male is black in colour and I spotted it only two days later, but by then this bird had disappeared.
This bird with a melodious 'Kuoo' call is well known for laying its eggs in a crows nest. The bird becomes noisy as summer approaches and is the first voice to be heard at dawn.
The bird was very scared of my slow approach and to get this close shot, I had to crawl behind all available obstacles to hide myself from her piercing crimson eyes.
Camera: Sony H7 - f/4.8 , 1/160, ISO 80,

Male Koel

After a post many months ago featuring the Female Asian Koel, I managed to spot the Male Asian Koel. The female is easy to identify as she is heavily spotted. The bird is notorious for its habit of laying its solitary egg in nests of other birds, especially the crow.

Both the photographs were taken from the same distance and from the same place, I have used a telephoto attachment for the first Photograph.